The polarization within the Jewish religious
arena is sharply reflected both by the dramatic weakening of modern
Orthodox streams and in the growing radicalization of the haredi world
and empowerment of its most extreme elements.

I recollect
nostalgically the Orthodox rabbis with whom I was acquainted in the
Diaspora. With the exception of the Hungarian ultra-Orthodox who
deliberately isolated themselves from the broader community and the
fanatically anti-Zionist Satmar Hassidim, they were all committed to the
communal welfare.

Ultra-Orthodox
laymen included doctors, lawyers and businesspeople who ensured that
besides a yeshiva education, their children also learned trades or
studied in university. In a word, most of them participated in the
broader community.

In Israel during the early decades of the state, aside from
small pockets of extremists, the Aguda and other ultra-Orthodox groups
retained a respectful attitude to the state and its instrumentalities.

However,
with the growth of haredi representation in the Knesset enabling them
to tilt the balance of power, they succeeded in leveraging vast sums
from successive governments for their education and housing.

Simultaneously,
yeshiva rabbis, devoid of secular education and many with minimal
interaction with society, strove to enroll as many yeshiva students as
possible, irrespective of their abilities. Furthermore, they urged
their followers to devote their lives toward full-time learning without
earning a livelihood, and to rely on state welfare.

This
approach has no precedent in Jewish life.

Many of the rabbis debating
in the Mishnah are actually identified by their profession, and
Maimonides emphatically stated that “Whoever thinks he can study Torah
and not work, and relies on charity, profanes God’s name.”

The
radicalization was spearheaded by an aggressive haredi hijacking of the
Chief Rabbinate – a state institution which they had formerly treated
with contempt.

In turn, this led to a determined drive to impose
on the entire nation excessively stringent interpretations of Jewish
law in all spheres – marriage, divorce, gender separation, conversion
and kashrut.

In order to alleviate acute economic hardship, the
great sages of the past creatively interpreted halacha on issues like
prohibition against interest and the observance of Shmita (the
injunction to allow the land in Israel to lie fallow every seventh
year). In contrast, today’s haredi rabbis enforce the most stringent
interpretations without concern for the welfare of the nation as a
whole.

The combination of extremism, isolationism and political
power climaxed with the histrionic efforts by haredim to resist the
government decision to partially remove the exemption of military or
national service to yeshiva students.

With overwhelming public
support, the government voted to revoke the exemptions which, due to
the massive demographic expansion of the haredi sector, had mushroomed
from the original 400 granted by prime minister David Ben-Gurion to
over 8,500 annually.

Desperate to retain control of their
followers and maintain the cordon sanitaire they had created between
their world and society at large, haredi rabbis launched massive
protests.

No halachic prohibition exists against serving in the
army of Israel. Our bible is full of military campaigns and of
personalities like Joshua and King David who personally led, fought and
saved the Jewish people in battle. The sages tell us we are obliged to
fight to defend ourselves (Milchemet Mitzvah).

Israelis,
especially religious Zionists who take great pride in their army
service, are outraged by the haredi claim that they are contributing to
the defense of Israel by learning Torah and praying. The former,
discredited, Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yonah Metzger even made the bizarre
statement that “when yeshiva attendance is low, as on holiday evenings
or prior to the Shabbat, more IDF soldiers are killed.”

The
government made every effort to achieve this change on a consensual
level. The law shall only be implemented gradually over three years and
will only apply at the age of 24. The principal vehicle to achieve
this was financial, by reducing and even eliminating the state subsidies
to yeshivot refusing to cooperate.

Unfortunately, Finance
Minister Yair Lapid, in a populist stunt, succeeded in tabling a
government proposal whereby criminal sanctions would be applied to
those refusing to register. This was utterly impractical as under such
circumstances, the prison system would collapse or be transformed into
de-facto yeshivot.

However, the extremists cynically grabbed
this opportunity to radicalize, unite and goad the entire haredi
community into one of its ugliest confrontations with the state.

The
language directed against the government was disgusting and profane,
with some of the so called “gedolei hador,” or religious leaders of the
generation, accusing the government of “imprisoning Jews for learning
Torah” and comparing political leaders to Amalek and Nazis.

Rabbi
Aharon Leib Shteinman, widely regarded as the moderate “gadol hador”
of the Lithuanian haredim, told government ministers that they should
“go to hell and suffer and be totally annihilated... May their names
and memories be blotted out.”

Contrast this vulgar language to
the respectful disagreements recorded in the Mishnah to gauge the
depths to which our “gedolim” have descended.

Equally disturbing was the unification of the entire haredi world in this vicious and contemptible crusade.( IN ISRAEL AND IN THE UNITED STATES)
Clearly
the moderates had been silenced and the radicals, many of whom are
aggressively anti-Zionist and even refuse to recite prayers for the
state or the IDF, are now in control. The chief rabbis, who are state
employees, behaved as puppets by participating in the haredi
demonstration – claiming that they were indulging in “prayers.” These
same chief rabbis had earlier issued an injunction that women should not
serve in the IDF, which outraged religious Zionists.

The
campaign was extended to the Diaspora. In New York a major
demonstration against the Israeli government took place in which Agudath
Israel of America, usually loath to engage in anti-Israeli activities,
fully participated. The Rabbinical Council of America, once a proud
bastion of modern orthodoxy, responded with deafening silence and they themselves and the Agudath Israel organized and actively participated in this hateful event!

In
Melbourne, Australia, where a similar rally took place, an outraged
response erupted from the rank-and- file Jewish community, and the
dominant Chabad rabbinate was obliged to write a humiliating letter
claiming that it had misunderstood the nature of the rally and
apologized. This demonstrates that laymen can stand up against
extremist rabbis, and when they do, they usually succeed.

The
roots of the problem are that the influential radical rabbis are
becoming ever more extreme and shrill in their isolation from society
and attacks on the leadership.

There is a bitter truth in the
remark that were Maimonides alive today he would be denied a teaching
post in a haredi yeshiva because of his worldly knowledge and
scientific outlook.

It is sad that a Diaspora haredi doctor,
lawyer or businessman settling in Israel, by sending his children to a
haredi yeshiva denies them the same education and profession from which
he benefited. They are destined to join the horde of uneducated
black-hats pursuing Talmudic studies, denied worldly knowledge and
isolated from those who do not share their outlook.

The haredi
rabbis are making a terrible mistake. Instead of cooperating with the
government which is willing to be flexible and gradual in imposing
changes, they are polarizing the situation and leading their followers
into an abyss of ignorance and poverty. Their behavior is reminiscent of
those rabbis in Europe who urged their followers not to leave on the
eve of the Holocaust.

The power of the radical rabbis will only
be reversed if we exercise people power.

We must insist that a moderate
Zionist rabbinical leadership take control of fundamental issues
affecting all Jewish citizens. If the haredi-controlled chief rabbinate
remains an obstacle, the modern Orthodox and national religious camp
should set up its own independent rabbinate...

Tendler-Like Teacher Says He Only Pursued Students After School!

World's Greatest Criminal Mugshots!

If Your Child Gets Raped - Go First To Your Rabbi - די באַסטערדז!

For My Israeli Readers! צפייה ביקורתית של יהדות אורתודוקסית

CLICK!

Mazel Tov - Rabbi Hershel Schachter!

CLICK ABOVE PHOTO! Rabbi Moshe Feinstein states the very marriage of a gentile woman to a non observant Jew, is equivalent to an open declaration that she will not observe the precepts. This is so, because it is highly unlikely that the gentile member of such a union, will be more committed to Judaism than her remiss Jewish husband (certainly when they are living together prior to their marriage). Unlike mental or tacit negations, explains Rav Feinstein, open declarations do invalidate conversions. When such cases appear before a rabbinical court, its members actually become witnesses to an acceptance declaration that is not sincere. Therefore, it is no longer a tacit insincerity, but rather an obvious one. As such, they are forbidden to sanction the conversion. Regardless of what this Jewish court may declare, the conversion is invalid and the person is not deemed a member of the Jewish nation. In Iggros Moshe, Letters of Moshe (Yoreh De’ah, no. 157), he writes that “According to the Law, it is certain that one who converts for the sake of marriage, does not intend to keep the commandments, and is not a proselyte at all.”

The Tendler Disease in the News - Again!

CLICK!

Child Molestor is Castrated in Plea Deal!

CLICK ON CUT 'EM OFF TENDLER!

We Are In A Time When The Sheep May No Longer Trust The Shepherds!

CLICK!

Tendler Country - Ex - High School Principal Gets 8 Years For Molesting Students!

New Square Appoints Vaad To Deal With Sexual Abuse!

Lakewood Kollel Opens In Senegal!

Scandals Tests Trust in Leadership!

Rabbi Matt Salomon Offers The Pope His Help!

CLICK ON PHOTO!

Oy! Does He Have A Headache!

CLICK ON YOSEL!

Child Abuse - Chipping Away At The Wall Of Silence!

CLICK ON BRIDGE - FOR SALE AT THE AGUDATH ISRAEL!

Rav Yosef Blau Shlita

***CLICK ON PHOTO!*** "Batei Din in our times are not effective in dealing with criminal behavior. Lacking the investigative arm of the police and having restrictive standards of testimony they can not establish guilt. When the culprit is charismatic, he can often get protégés who feel indebted to him to lie to the Beis Din. It takes years before those who have been abused as youngsters to openly face their abuser."

Kolko's Office Sign - Auctioned On eBay!

I'm a bit concerned about Ehud - he can't seem to keep his hands off of me!

Ehud asked me to pardon him!

Looks like George has been hangin' with Bill Clinton!

I look into your eyes --- and I see a rotten crook!

Did you hear the one about the rabbi & the priest? Rabbi Kolko penetrated the priest (oh father)...